Hollister resident and Democrat Robert Rivas is the clear front runner for the 30th District State Assembly seat and will face Republican challenger Neil Kitchens in a November runoff.
Rivas came out way ahead in Tuesday’s primary despite having three Democratic challengers on the ballot.
Rivas, age 38 and a San Benito County supervisor since his election in 2010, had 44.5 percent of the vote with 202 of 220 precincts reporting, according to the secretary of state’s office. Rivas had gained 14,336 votes as of results from late Tuesday.
He’s outlasting Peter Leroe-Muñoz, Bill Lipe, Trina Coffman-Gomez and Neil G. Kitchens, the lone Republican in the race who had gained 31.3 percent in the primary. The top two vote getters advance to a November runoff.
The results are incomplete and unofficial.
